Salting

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One of the more imaginative scams on our list of the top 10 classic cons, salting began in 19th century at the height of the North American gold rushes, when con artists would load gold dust into a shotgun and shoot it into an otherwise barren mine, thereby giving the illusion of outrageous wealth. Although this particular scam may not seem particularly advanced, salting can still work in this day and age as evidenced by the 1997 Bre-X gold scandal that bilked investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.